VIDEO: Jean Vilmond Hilaire, Société Audubon Haiti
They analyzed data, the input of environmental experts and their own observations and experiences in order to create consensus about which natural areas in the region are the best candidates for funding. Participants also discussed the role civil society groups could play in helping to mainstream environmental stewardship into development policies and plans.
VIDEO: Yvonne Arias, Grupo Jarauga Inc., Dominican Republic
Their conclusions help form the basis of the ecosystem profile that is being developed to guide investment in the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).
Understanding a complex, diverse region
The Caribbean Islands Hotspot is made up of thousands of islands, mainly in three large groups between North and South America: the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles, and the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba and Hispaniola, which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti).
“As a consequence of having many islands, the endemism is exceptionally high in some of the groups of species here. Right up to 100 percent of all amphibians here are endemic to the hotspot,” said David Wege, senior Caribbean program manager for BirdLife, which led the ecosystem profiling process for CEPF in the region. “So it’s critically important at a global level for its biodiversity.”
The region’s biodiversity is, in turn, important for sustaining communities in the region, Wege said.
“People are relying on the services that these key biodiversity areas provide, whether that’s forest products, whether that’s provision of fresh water or indeed food, non-timber forest products—they’re often reliant on it and they’re often impacting it unsustainably. So working with people around these areas is going to be critical in ensuring their long-term management and in finding ways for people to use these resources sustainably,” said Wege.
The Caribbean Islands is one of three biodiversity hotspots where CEPF is preparing to launch new investment programs as part of a major expansion. Similar stakeholder consultation processes are under way or soon to start in the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot in southeastern Africa and in the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot.
Profiles useful beyond CEPF investment
When CEPF embarks on investing in a new region, one of the first steps is the development of an ecosystem profile. It provides an overview of biodiversity importance, as well as overall targets for and major threats to conservation. The document provides key policy, civil society and socioeconomic context, and identifies funding gaps and opportunities.
The profile not only serves as a guide to CEPF’s investment, but also provides an outline for strategic investment that can be used by national governments, donors and others planning to implement or invest in conservation and development efforts in the region.
The involvement of a wide swath of stakeholders through a series of workshops held around the region is, therefore, crucial to developing a profile that will best serve not only biodiversity but also communities and national economies.
National coordinators facilitated the gathering of information and review of priorities within their own countries. Jean Vilmond Hilaire, executive director of Société Audubon Haïti, which served as the national coordinator for the ecosystem profiling in Haiti, said the process brought an analysis of the issues and threats to biodiversity conservation in his country. “It also allowed us to analyze the roots of those threats and also the barriers, anything that can prevent us from putting in place a genuine national system of protected areas,” he said.
“I am an optimist, and I believe that the future of conservation in the Caribbean is promising,” said Yvonne Arias, president of Grupo Jaraugua Inc., which served as the national coordinator in the Dominican Republic. She said the growing influence and involvement of the public in conservation decision-making is an important factor in the outlook for the region.
“Because the Caribbean is an extremely important region for development of tourism, of agriculture, the people know that conservation provides benefits,” she said.
The final stakeholder meeting for the Caribbean Islands Hotspot was held in July in Antigua, in conjunction with the regional meeting of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds. It drew representatives of nations and territories big and small, and elicited questions and input on the best strategy for CEPF’s investment.
“I don’t think that the specific CEPF money will be able to solve all the conservation issues in the Caribbean, but if we have a good strategy, if we pick our investments where they are needed, then I think we have a good chance of success and the investment can be multiplied by 20, by 30, based on the results that we can achieve in the field. It’s not so much the amount that is important but the strategy,” said Hilaire.
Once completed, the ecosystem profile will be submitted for review and approval by CEPF’s Donor Council. If the profile wins approval, the award of grants is expected to start in 2010 after the Council selects a regional implementation team to help guide the investment.